In order to grow your business, you’re going to have to trust that your staff members are capable of getting the job’s done that you assign to them. That means you’re going to have to do something that may be uncomfortable for some of you and easy for others. You’re going to have to delegate tasks in order to grow your business.
After all, you’re only one person, you can’t do it all. And what you are going to find is that some of your staff members can do certain jobs even better than you can. It’s more important than ever before that we utilize certain tools that will increase the odds of success when were delegating tasks to our team.
One of the best delegation techniques I’ve ever come across is one that I call: Check Back!
Now check back is not check up. After all, if you’re checking up on a staff member the first thought that comes into their mind is that you don’t trust them. You could be the best worker on the planet and if somebody is standing behind you’re back watching you do your job you’re going to make mistakes. So we use a technique called Check Back and here’s how it works:
Step One: Assign a team member, a task to do and ask them the question, when can I Check Back with you? The ball is now in their court they have to give you a time when they are going to have the task completed and a commitment to getting it done. Now get out of the way!
Step Two: You Must Check Back! If you assign a task to a staff member and don’t follow up at the assigned time you’re sending a message that you don’t care. The next time you assign a task to that team member they will drag their feet and be more likely to sabotage the process.
Step Three: if you have Checked Back with that employee and they’ve completed the task let them know how much you appreciate it. If they have not completed the task then you want to ask the key question and the question goes like this: you asked your children to go upstairs and clean up their room, you go upstairs and an hour later and the room is not cleaned up, what is the first question that you asked your child?
Why? And the answer better not be Because.
When we assign tasks to our employees, we expect them to complete the tasks especially if they’ve made a commitment. Now if they don’t like the task they are doing that’s okay, we expect them to see it through to the end. The next time a similar task comes up; we explain to them that they really don’t have to do it. However we explain to them the consequences and then it’s their choice.
The use of Check Back is a fabulous technique that allows your team to accomplish tasks that you assign to them which ultimately strengthens the team and its individual members both personally and professionally. It has been my experience that when I get out of the way good things happen!
